MEN’S HOCKEY | Brown blanks Elis after blizzard

After two game postponements due to the blizzard, the men’s hockey team finally made it to Providence, R.I., on Tuesday night, but the No. 10 Bulldogs fell behind in the first period and ultimately lost 1–0 to Ivy rival Brown.

The Bears (9–9–5, 5–6–5 ECAC) dominated the first five minutes of play, taking nine of their eventual 32 shots on goal during that span. At 10:31, with a 20–12 shots advantage, the home team knocked the eventual game-winner past Bulldog goalie Nick Maricic ’13.

“I would say that our start was mediocre at best,” forward Antoine Laganiere ’13 said. “We got better as the game went on, but had we come out stronger, the outcome may have been different.”

Toward the end of the first period, the Bulldogs (13–7–3, 9–5–1 ECAC) finally started to pull out of their offensive rut. The Elis outshot the Bears 17–8 in the second period and 15–4 in the third but could not manage to convert any of those opportunities into goals. Maricic finished the night with 31 saves, and Brown goalie Anthony Borelli stopped an impressive 44 shots for his team’s third shutout of the season.

“Brown’s game plan was to play a shutdown defensive style and they did that well tonight,” Maricic said. “We had trouble creating high-quality scoring chances and getting to productive areas of the ice.”

Yale goalie Jeff Malcolm ’13, who has played most of the team’s games this season, is still out of commission with a leg injury from the Feb. 1 game versus Princeton. Maricic and Connor Wilson ’15 have filled his spot in the crease in the past three games. Yale beat Princeton on Feb. 1 but fell to No. 1 Quinnipiac on Feb. 2.

Forward Jesse Root ’14 said Maricic played a strong game on Tuesday, but that the team’s offensive efforts did not do enough to support him. Captain Andrew Miller ’13 added that the Bulldogs struggled to capitalize on rebounds.

“That is a major issue that must be addressed immediately,” Laganiere added. “It is not enough to generate scoring chances. We must be hungry to score, every game, every period.”

The Bulldogs hope to break their two-game losing streak as they travel to Union and RPI on Friday and Saturday nights respectively.